Where in the World is Ella?
by soprano193
Summary: Based on tumblr prompt, Caskett baby loses stuffed elephant. Fluffy family feels.


A/N: Based on prompt "Caskett's toddler loses his favorite stuffed elephant in the mall and doesn't stop crying for it, even new one doesn't help." I don't own any of the characters except for Oliver.

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"I know, buddy, I'm looking!" She sighed, exasperated, as she bounced her two-year-old on her hip. "I don't know what you want me to do, Oliver, I've looked everywhere!"

He ignored her, his face turning red as he wailed, hot tears streaming down his cheeks. "Ella! Ella, go?" His hazel eyes studied Kate's face, searching for an answer that she didn't have, but she desperately wanted to give him. It was one of the things about parenthood she had come to hate, that she couldn't fix everything, and today was definitely one of those days.

She held him closer to her body. "I don't know, Oliver, but I'm looking, I promise." She made her way back to the bathroom, the last place she remembered being before he realized it was gone. She checked in the stall, under and around the sinks, she even glanced in the trash. She was disappointed not to find the worn stuffed elephant. She kissed her toddler on his wet cheek, running her fingers through his soft brown hair. "Sorry, bud, she's not here."

"Ella go?" He started to wail again, bringing his hands balled in little fists up to his face, rubbing his eyes.

Kate sighed. She had already checked every store they had been in, and left all of their information with the customer service representatives and managers in every store. "I don't know where Ella went, Oliver." He didn't like hearing her say that, and his face scrunched more, and turned a darker shade of red. Kate headed back in the direction of the bookstore, stopping at a mall info booth to leave a description of the toy and her information.

Once in the bookstore, Gina practically pounced on her. "Why would you bring him in here like this? We're trying to promote a book, and people generally don't like screaming babies." She shrugged. "Unless you just don't want the money."

Kate was already upset from wrestling an over tired toddler who was not only in an unfamiliar place, but had also just lost his favorite toy. She bit her tongue before answering the blonde. "I need help from my family right now, all of whom are here, so please excuse me while I try to calm him down."

She heard her husband's voice before she could sneak off to the back room where Alexis was probably hiding. "Is that my favorite little man over there? What's wrong, bud?" He called over from a table, where a line of women were waiting to get his autograph and a short, personalized note. He waved them over to him, an eager look on his face.

"Nope, you just don't want the money." Gina muttered under her breath. Kate rolled her eyes and pretended not to hear her, walking over to her husband who was waiting with outstretched arms.

"Hey, Oliver! Want to help me sign books?" He placed the toddler in his lap, and handed him an extra pen and a slip of paper so he could color.

Oliver's cries quieted to a whimper as he grasped the pen and started scribbling. Kate breathed a sigh of relief, and tentatively sat in the chair next to him. She sometimes felt awkward at his book tours, sitting out there with him. She felt like she was in the way, which she found ironic considering how he followed her around. She smiled kindly at the fans, accepting compliments about how beautiful their son was graciously, and for a few minutes, she thought it all had passed. Until he looked at her again, his hazel eyes big and pleading. "Mumma, Ella go?"

She locked eyes briefly with Castle, who understood the situation immediately. Castle tugged Oliver closer and whispered in his ear. "I think Ella is playing hide and seek. We'll find her soon."

Oliver's eyebrows furrowed together as he frowned. "No! Ella now."

Kate rubbed her face with her hands. "He's okay for now, and there's a toy store next door. I could go see if they have an Ella." She offered, worried about leaving their fussy son there with Castle, who was technically working.

"You lost Ella? I can go look for one, if you want." Kate felt relief flood her veins as she heard her step-daughter's offer from behind her.

She turned to the redhead, fishing a twenty out of her pocket. "Are you sure? I can take care of it." Kate offered, allowing the young woman to take back the offer if she really didn't want to go.

Alexis shook her head, waving away the money. "Don't worry about it. What sort of good luck charm would I be if I left you two with a fussy baby?" She leaned down, kissing her brother on his wet cheek, and followed up quickly with a peck on her father's. Kate mouthed a silent 'thank you' in her direction, relaxing a bit in her seat as Oliver reluctantly went back to coloring. Alexis smiled warmly at her, and squeezed her shoulder as she passed.

Oliver was content for a few more minutes, flirting openly with some of the fans, and scribbling furiously on the paper in front of him. A few fans even let him sign the back of their books. "Ella, wee you?" He sang to himself as he scribbled. Kate didn't answer him, and thankfully, her husband didn't either. They both knew that as soon as they acknowledged him, he would erupt.

Of course, it was a fan who walked by, smiling at him, who set him off. "Who's Ella?" She fake whispered to him.

He snapped his hazel eyes back in Kate's direction. "Mumma, Ella go?"

She groaned, and Castle held him closer to his body, anticipating the tantrum. Kate looked at the fan, who was a little confused. "His toy, we misplaced her somewhere around here."

The fan shot a concerned look at the toddler. "I'm so sorry I brought it up. My daughter lost her doll once at a Wal-Mart and she still remembers it. She always looks around whenever we go to see if Cassandra is hiding."

"Is that what you told her?" Kate asked, picking up the toddler who was once again beginning to get more and more upset.

The fan nodded. "Yeah, and it helped for a bit, but she was still upset." She waved at them. "Bye, buddy." She said with a pout. "And good luck, Mom." Her eyes met Kate's, and she flashed a reassuring and apologetic smile.

Meanwhile, Oliver had erupted again at the realization that his favorite toy was gone, his face turning bright red as he screamed. The fans were all watching, some concerned and some annoyed, as Kate picked him up and started heading toward the back room. She tried her best to occupy him on anything other than his missing friend, but he wasn't having any of it. He pushed away from her, lashing out as he screamed, and hit himself on the top of his head, his eyes squeezed shut. Kate grabbed his arm quickly and put it in his lap. "Please don't hit my boy, Oliver. That's not nice."

He hit her instead, screaming "no!" at the top of his lungs, a frown on his face.

"Hey!" Kate raised her voice. "Don't hit your Mumma either!"

Once he realized what he had done, coupled with the raise of her voice, his face crumpled, and Kate's heart shattered. "Sowwy Mumma. Ella go?"

She wiped his tears off his cheek, and gathered him into her lap. "I don't know, baby, I don't know."

He whimpered into her chest for a few minutes until there was a tentative knock on the door. In popped the redhead, a bag in her hand. Kate pointed her out to her son. "Look, Oll! Look who came to see you!" She brushed his wavy hair from his eyes, and he flashed his sister a small grin. He waved, still snuggled tightly on Kate's chest.

"Hey bud! I brought you something!" She reached into the bag, pulling out an exact replica of Ella, complete with the little red scarf tied around her neck that had long ago fallen off the original Ella. He eyed it with trepidation as she held it toward him.

Kate chuckled. "You found another Ella. Your Dad was right, you are a good luck charm!"

Alexis laughed back. "Why do you think I still have to come with him on book tours?"

Oliver had picked up the new Ella, and he was looking it over, somewhat confused. Kate thought they were all in the clear, until he threw it down, his face crumpling again. "No!" He started to wail again, and Kate threw her head back in desperation.

"Oliver! Why did you throw Ella like that?" Alexis asked softly, picking up the toy and offering it to him again.

He pushed it away from him. "No! Ella go? Ella go?" He buried his head in Kate's chest again, wetting her shirt with his hot tears. She couldn't force herself to lie to him, so she snuggled him close and rocked him instead. "I don't know, baby. I'm sorry."

She held him there for a few minutes while he cried for his lost companion. When he didn't seem to let up, Kate met the blue eyes of her step-daughter. "I might head back to the hotel, try and let him take a nap. Maybe he'll forget, or at least be calmer about it later. Do you mind driving your Dad back?"

Alexis shook her head. "Not at all. And look at him anyway, he's miserable." She lightly stroked her brother's hair. "Dad will be here for another few hours, and it's not really fair to Oliver or you to wait for him. He'll understand."

Kate squeezed the young woman's hand and flashed her a small smile of gratitude. She stood up, grabbing Oliver's bag of stuff, and headed out of the store, stopping only to say goodbye and peck her husband on the cheek.

Back at the hotel, she laid her very sleepy toddler in his pack and play, where he immediately rolled over and fell asleep. She chuckled softly to herself. "You've got the right idea, bud." She crawled on top of the bed next to him, and let her head hit the pillow, falling asleep almost as fast as her son.

"Mumma, up!" She heard, along with his grunts, and she smiled, imagining him trying to push his way up over the bar. She opened her eyes, finding his head resting on the bar as close to her head as possible as he studied her. He grinned, his nose scrunching as his mouth stretched out. "Hi Mumma!"

She laughed. "Hi, Oliver!" She matched his enthusiasm, lifting him up and squeezing him close to her. "Did you have a nice nappy?"

"Uh huh!" She changed his diaper and chatted with her. "Daddy book. Mumma me eat. Kids! Hi boy!"

Kate laughed. "Yeah, Daddy is signing books. And you ate lunch with me, and we played with some kids, and you said 'hi' to the little boy! You had a busy day little man."

He giggled, wiggling on the bed. He stopped after a second, looking at Kate seriously. "Ella go?"

She sighed. "I think Ella is hiding, buddy. We'll find her soon." And they'd better. The number of times Kate left her number with people today was staggering. She hoped that by the end of the day, she'd have a call.

His face fell, but he didn't cry. "Uh ay Mumma."

"Okay." She repeated back to him. She flicked on the TV, ordering Frozen on pay per view, and snuggled him close while they relaxed and sang along with most of the songs. Anna was trying to chase Elsa across the frozen fjord when she heard the door open, and her husband came into view. "Hey, babe! Sorry I stranded you." She leaned up and captured his lips in a soft kiss.

"It's fine. Besides, I got to do some looking." He leaned down and started searching through his bag. "Oliver, look what I found!"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Didn't Alexis tell you? The fake one didn't work."

"Good thing I found the real one, then!" He pulled the well-worn grey elephant out of his bag, holding it out to their son.

"Ella!" Oliver scrambled out of Kate's arms over to the edge of the bed, where he squeezed the elephant around its neck.

Kate sat up fully. "Where did you find it?" She asked, incredulous.

Castle sat on the bed next to her, placing the fake Ella in her lap. "She was hanging out in the food court, next to one of the potted plants. I almost missed her."

She shook her head and chuckled. "I thought she was long gone." She pressed her lips to his again, softly. "You are such a good Daddy."

He grinned at her. "So I've been told."

She played with the ears of fake Ella in her lap. "So, what do we do with this one?"

He lifted it, pretending to study it, before putting it back in her lap. "We could always give it to our next kid."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah? We'll see." After today she didn't want any more. But she knew that tomorrow that would change again. They hadn't had any serious talks about more, just these little hints that a serious talk was coming. "Besides, we can't call her Ella, we already have one." She offered as a lame excuse.

He leaned back on his elbows, deep in thought. "Patty." He said, nodding in approval at his own suggestion.

"Patty?" She laughed. "Where did you come up with that?"

He shrugged. "It's the closest I could get to pachyderm."

She chuckled again, and leaned down to rest her head on his shoulder. She adjusted Patty's red scarf, and watched their son chatter away with Ella. In that moment, her doubts washed away. Of course she wanted more, maybe a little one with his big blue eyes this time, a human companion for Oliver rather than a stuffed one. "We'll see."


End file.
